Covered Bridges of Bucks Series – part 1 (Pine Valley)

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This is the Pine Valley Covered Bridge, which is located near New Britain. It is 81 feet long and was built in 1842  by David Sutton at a cost of $5553.50 of hemlock and pine timber. It spans Pine Run stream which may have been named for the white pine which were once abundant near the stream. Its the nearest one to my home in Bucks., located herePine Valley Covered Bridge is owned by Bucks County.This bridge is the oldest in the county. It is painted red with the white trim.

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This bridge was once repaired in 1917. Then it was closed again in the summer of 2006 to repair the deteriorating beams on the deck and other repairs to make the bridge safe for traffic. Pine Valley is still is able to sustain a high volume of traffic that uses it daily. It had only been reopened for just a few months prior to an accident in 2007. An oversized truck tried to goo through the old structure and tore off some of the roof and damaged the support beams under the bridge. The truck driver never stopped at the accident scene. Even if the truck driver didn’t feel the hit to the bridge, the truck would have damage done to it. 

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Each year the Central Bucks Bicycle Club hosts a covered bridges tour hitting many of the 11 remaining covered Bridges in Bucks County (at one time there were 36). On 2010, its on October 17.

Research courtesy of Sunshine Red.

 

More Bucks County on Two Wheels

As I contemplate moving South to Greenville, SC next year to begin to ease into retirement, I wanted to share some still and moving images from my beautiful home in Bucks County, PA. Click to enlarge, download or “play”.

Rickert’s Road farm, fall and winter

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Nockamixon State Park

around Doylestown. Univest GP, my backyard and Mercer museum

dawn at Peace Valley Park, New Britain

 

River to River Ride

This ride benefits the Heritage Conservancy, a great cause to preserve our area. This was our first year doing the ride with my CyclePA bud, Mike Rubillo and beau of my friend Angela Giovine of Bucks Happening and LimeEvents. His name was Sal and he’s a great guy.

We wrangled with the ride organizers about the sanity of doing the 50 mile Bucks loop first followed by the 50 mile Montgomery loop (Its set up as 25,50 and 100 miles). We were going to ride the 100, but due to the less shady and more trafficked Montgomery loop being second in the heat of the day, we opted for the 50.

 

It was a very nice route, but one of the rest stops at mile 13 was well secreted or missing. Consensus was the latter. Though we had fun (see above), the rudeness of the organizers when both my friend and I asked questions will leave me looking to find another way to support the Conservancy in the future!

Now that CyclePA 2010 is Over…

Our campaign to hit our fundraising goal for Make a Wish still continues. You can find our page here to make a tax deductible contribution!  The great memories from the trip are located on the CyclePA blog. 

Mike Rubillo and I appreciate your support!

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Much of our trip followed the PA South route shown below, which was a total accident! Working with PennDot to gain one of these sign as a momento.

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We are hoping to do another fundraising effort next year and hope we can solicit your participation then!

Cycling on Martha’s Vineyard

I live in Bucks County, PA, which has some of the most beautiful countryside with untravelled roads. I am moving to Greenville, SC in the next year which has more of the same, especially north of town toward the NC border.

I come to Martha’s Vineyard each year of the last 12 to relax in June. the cycling and countryside here is superb (at least this time of year). Count all the cars in the video below!